Shannon Mia BeltThe Stockton Record
After an unexpected stellar start to her high school track and field career, St. Mary’s Geianna Gonzalez found herself in the running for the first ever RecordNet’s Fan’s Choice Girls Track Star of the Year.
The news spread like wildfire across the Rams community as they stuffed the ballots for the freshman sprinter racking up a total of 15,766 votes to earn her the title of Girls Track Star of the Year.
“It feels good knowing that I have the honors of being the first one voted as the Girls Track Star of the Year,” she said. “I'm very appreciative of all the votes and all the people who took the time out of their mornings and nights to help me win. I’m just so proud and so thankful.”
Getting through the transition
For just about her whole life, Gonzalez has been running. She began when she was four years old doing club track most recently running for Running Rebels out of the Bay Area before earning a spot on St. Mary’s varsity squad. As one of seven freshmen on the team, she dealt with growing pains battling a new level of competition as well as injuries.
“It was a little rocky, I was dealing with a hamstring strain so it was hard for me to be able to reach my full potential,” Gonzalez said. “People around me have made it much easier for me, just being there to support me like reassuring me and letting me know it's OK no matter how I do. Telling me to focus on the future and not the past.”
Despite not being at 100%, Gonzalez still raced her way to the top of the rankings in various sprinter events for the Rams. She competed in the 100- and 200-meter races and was the anchor of her team’s 4x100 relay team. At the close of the 2023-24 season, she racked up a total of seven silver, four bronze and one gold in the 100 and 200-meter events.
Her gold medal finish came at the TCAL Center Meet #1 on March 6 running the 100-meter race in 12.34 seconds. Gonzalez set her personal record in the event (12.28) at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Championship finals to take home silver and qualify for the SJS Masters meet.
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The freshman was one of many speedy sprinters for St. Mary’s but truly stood out because of her commitment to the girls' 4x100 relay team.
“She’s always being that vocal person and she’s doing that as a freshman,” said Myke Lewis, St. Mary’s track and field head coach. “Geianna is an athlete and she wants the best for everybody. She was completely unselfish and whatever she could do to help the team she did it as a confident team person.”
For the love of her team
At the SJS Masters meet on May 18, Gonzalez put her focus on helping her 4x100 relay team qualify for the CIF State Track & Field Championship.
“She kind of sacrificed the individual races for the relay because she really wanted the relay to make it,” Lewis said. “So she put more emphasis on the relay and to come up short but knowing that’s what she was doing for the team as a coach I just marvel at that. That’s just complete unselfishness and complete teamwork.”
The Rams relay squad placed fourth at the Masters with a time of 48.28 seconds. They were just .17 seconds away from earning an at-large bid entry to State. Despite the heartbreaking finish, the team had a successful season with two freshmen and a first-time runner making up the team.
They ended the year with six gold, two silver, and one bronze medal with their fastest finish coming at the SJS Masters. Gonzalez will return for her sophom*ore season driven to get her team and herself to the biggest track and field stage. According to Lewis, a key to her getting there is resting this off-season.
“Geianna’s like the Energizer Bunny, she just doesn’t know how to take the batteries out,” Lewis joked. “I really want her to rest more and I’ve made that pretty clear to her. I say this to every athlete because before you know it you’re a freshman today and a senior tomorrow so you have to be able to endure four years.”
Along with getting some R&R, Gonzalez hopes to improve her mindset heading into her sophom*ore season helping with the mental aspect of running. Until then she can relish in her new title of first-ever RecordNet’s Fan’s Choice Girls Track Star of the Year.
“It’s nice knowing that people acknowledge me as a top athlete and it just makes me proud of myself,” Gonzalez said. “ I just want to say how appreciative I am for all of my family, friends, teammates, and coaches that were there to support me at all times.”
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Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
